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Sunday, April 29, 2012

The purpose of a college education

The standard parent answer for the value of a college education is that you get one to get a job*. Blech. College is not a vocational school. Another common answer is that it's to learn, which is true but not particularly useful. There are all kinds of learning, and not all of them are of equal value.

The best answer that I have come up with is that a college education** is the best way to get control over your own destiny. You're just one person in a world of 7 billion governed by forces much bigger than you.

Without a solid, advanced education, you don't understand how that world works. You don't have much value to bargain with, so you're at the mercy of others. It's harder for you discover what it is that is most significant and meaningful to you, so it's harder for you to find your satisfaction.

* The standard Indian parent answer is that forma education is an end in and of itself, to the point of advocating it even when it is not worth it. Well, at least some educated Indian parents. Hmm. I sense a circularity.

** a well-rounded one where you also specialize in something meaningful and useful, not a BS major like communications. Sidebar: what's not a phony major? A real major needs to combine theory and practice. Pure theory is wanking. Pure application is vocational school (which has its place, but not at a university). And "useful" is defined as something that adds to the collective sum of human prosperity. It might be intrinsically useless, but it can also be made useless by circumstances if it's not economically viable for you to practice it.